"Lambert's book renders the complicated story of Tod's metamorphosis from Democrat to Lincoln ally clear and accessible. He also shows how malleable partisan identity could be in the cauldron of the Civil War and offers a rare spotlight on the phenomenon of War Democrats, those political orphans often mistrusted by Republicans and maligned by Copperheads." --Emerging Civil War

"An engaging study of political transformation.... a must read for local history buffs as well as for Civil War enthusiasts." --Tribune Chronicle

"Though never a presidential candidate, [Gov. David Tod] might be one of Ohio's greatest political leaders. Ohio was a key to the Union victory, and Tod's war leadership a major factor in that. Tod has not received the attention due him. Lambert's book remedies that." --Bob on Books

"A highly recommended study, Joseph Lambert's The Political Transformation of David Tod ably addresses a significant gap in the modern biography of northern war governors, many of whom played critical roles in assisting the Lincoln administration's path to Union victory." --Civil War Books and Authors

"This engagingly written book is a marvelous addition to the political history of the Civil War. By bringing Ohio's governor David Tod out of obscurity, Lambert showcases Tod's ability to rise to the challenge of putting the Union above party to restore the nation, and he places Tod's inspired leadership and the nation-state alliance at the forefront of the war's tumultuous years of 1862 and 1863." --Stephen D. Engle, author of Gathering to Save a Nation: Lincoln and the Union's War Governors

"Modern political biographies of Civil War leaders beyond the national and presidential level have been neglected for too long. Joseph Lambert Jr. provides us a study of one of Ohio's war governors, taking us into the experience of politics during the rebellion at the state level with this insightful look at David Tod, a 'War Democrat' whose tenure reflected the deep divisions and political realities of the war years in the Union heartland." --A. James Fuller, University of Indianapolis, author of Oliver P. Morton and the Politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction

"Lambert's detailed and concise biography of David Tod provides a long-overdue study of Ohio's most notable Civil War governor. A lifelong Democrat, Tod became a Lincoln ally, and his leadership during the turbulent years of 1862 and 1863 ensured the Buckeye State would be a steadfast supporter of the Union cause." --Thomas Crowl, author of Opdycke's Tigers in the Civil War: A History of the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry